I a-dare you
by NCR Ranger
Summary: Buck and Dare purse the goal of matrimonial harmony


UNSC ' _Infinity_ '

0840 hours.

Orinoco Ships' Wildlife preserve

* * *

Dare _knew_ for a fact she was in above average shape.

After all, for example, back when she'd been a cadet a the UNSC's Titus Naval Academy back on her homeworld of Actium, she had routinely placed in the upper 10 in both her classes when it came to the regimented PT exercises that were an integral component of the curriculum ( The UNSC generally wanted its naval officers to have at least _some_ psychical ability ). Many hours of scaling the hanging knotted ropes in the gym, or running laps around the mile long oval track hadn't come easily at first, but by the end of her time there, Dare was pulling off both without even feeling unable to breathe afterwards.

Later, during ONI fieldcraft training, her academy exposure to tough PT had come in handy once again. Dare wouldn't have admitted this aloud ( as that would be boasting, and she hated boasting ), but she had somehow managed a similar performance. During the long distance forced marches that the candidates had to partake in across swathes of uninhabited forest, she'd managed to avoid ever coming last- which wasn't nearly as easy as it sounded. If it hadn't been for her experiences at Titus, Dare had little doubt that's exactly what would've happened, as those marches were definitely not for anyone used to little more than casual strolls.

They would've fallen behind. But that was something she couldn't accept, getting left behind. It was intolerable to her.

Something about herself- Dare wasn't sure what, couldn't pinpoint it- refused to be the kind of person who couldn't keep up, someone who was too slow and not fit enough to maintain a fast pace, especially when speed mattered. And, it _always_ mattered.

Nobody would ever have to backtrack to drag _her_ forward-

" _Buck_ ?! Wh- wait up ! "

\- until today.

_How the heck did he get _that_ far ?! I've been out in the field with him before, We fought the Created on Cassidy III..._

Speaking of getting left behind, that _was_ happening right now. Dare was as appalled by it as she was annoyed, but on top of all that, she was also all but too tired to care.

At least she had some exotic surroundings to get ditched in, though. Right now, she was surrounded by a jungle- an honest to God, real and thriving jungle, not at all unlike the kind one would find on South America back on Earth. The foliage was as real as that- trees with trunks as thick as a Scarab's leg and about as tall soared at least 2 dozen meters toward what was actually the_ Infinity's_ ceiling, but to anyone looking, appeared to the the sky. Bushes, shrubs, and more species of plants and ground hugging growth than Dare recognized crowded and competed for space around and between the bases of the massive trees. The air itself was heavy with moisture, which had long ago coated Dare's skin- even under the t-shirt and hiking shorts she had on. It was actually hard to tell how much of that was sweat, or the persistent _humidity._

It was practically _dripping_ off her in places. If Dare'd been like most women, she'd have especially hated that. Even as she was, the feeling of sweat sitting on you faster than it could be evaporated wasn't enjoyable.

On top of that, her legs were hurting. Well, not so much hurting as much as _burning. _There was a strong aching feeling running up and down through her thighs, and she had a nagging want to sit down. Or at least lean against something solid- like one of the abundant trees- to take some of the strain off. In those ways, it was a bit like the long marches of her Oni training days.

Except, there'd been no Spartans to chase up mountains back then.

_' Yeah, I know. I am getting tired- and that makes no sense ! It was all going so well up until now. More to the point, I'm _used_ to this !_

_I _had_ to let Buck wrangle me into a race up the side of this wretched mountain. At least, it feels like a mountain. Where's the top of this thing, anyway ? Where'd he go, either ?_

_" __Buck ?!_ Where are you ?! "

Mercifully, her calls were finally answered at that point. From somewhere out in the mass of plants ahead, a familiarly laid-back voice responded:

" Veronica ?! That _you_ all the way back there ?! "

_He actually heard me ? Wait, _of course_ he heard me. Think straight, Dare- Spartan senses, remember ?_

_Geez, I must be more worn out than I thought. I've always kept up with anyone before. Ha. Not here._

_" _Wow. You lost more ground than I thought ! Don't worry- backtracking now. "

_" _Thank God ", Dare murmured, letting herself smile a bit. At least she wouldn't have to keep hiking through this mess to get to him now. Not that she wouldn't have been able to force herself to do it, but why walk when you can ride, so to speak.

Coming to a ( slightly ) stumbling halt beside the moss-covered trunk of a tree, Dare decided it would do. She leaned her right side and shoulder into it, letting the massive bulk of the giant plant prop her up. Without having to move anymore, the burning in her legs didn't go away, but at least it wasn't getting any worse. Equally as important, her breathing also now had a chance to get brought back to normal.

_Through the nose. Breathe through the nose_

Reaching to the right and down, Dare plucked her water bottle off her hip pouch. It was a thermal-controlled design bottle, which kept its contents at slightly below room temperature even in the steam pressure cooker that was this sprawling rainforest's default setting.

Bringing it up to her mouth, she took a few quick but deep pulls from it, strongly savoring the chilled feel of the water. It really did hit the spot. Yet again, water proved itself to be vital to life itself.

" Veronica ?! Ey, there you are ! Wow, you're _even more_ prone to disappearing than that Jennifer corpsman my unit was saddled with back in ODST training !"

Rustling foliage branches announced the arrival of the former ODST, as he finally appeared in the small clearing Dare had stopped in. He was dressed similarly to Dare- shirt, knee length shorts- but unlike her, his outfit wasn't nearly as spotted with sweat marks as hers were.

It was _slightly_ irritating. Then again, he was a Spartan, and she wasn't. Dare didn't think that counted as an excuse, but it made her feel better. They had all those augmentations, after all.

_And they _did_ ask for that._

_" _What's the matter, V ? ", the towering Spartan man in question asked, as he strolled over to her, using one of his cheesy nicknames for her.

Grinning,he gestured at the perspiration- marked spots on her clothes. " You look like you're ready to drink a river. You've probably lost that much already. "

It was the usual brand of awful Buck-style humor, yet again. 20+ years of fighting the Covenant, and getting betrayed by that worthless backstabber Micheal Crespo hadn't been enough to damage that. If anything, it'd actually gotten worse. Maybe it was his way of coping, or maybe all that outside stressors had a warped, backwards effect on him. It was too difficult to tell most things for certain when it came to Buck.

Dare knew that the best way to counter it was to definitely be as straightforward and matter of fact as you could. It usually derailed him fairly quickly- usually. That always gave her immense satisfaction.

She rolled with that plan now. After taking another half-second sip of that water, of course.

_He mocks me, but water matters its weight in gold._

_Ok- now to put him in his place._

_" _Re-hydrating is crucial during and after prolonged psychical activity, Spartan. ", Dare stated, in the most officious way she had. " The body can't function if the lost water isn't replaced. "

It was a textbook-ready response. Annoyingly, though, Buck's lopsided smile didn't falter.

" Which of us is swigging water like its going out of style, and braced up against a tree, eh ? Here's a hint: That someone is blonde. "

" Oh, and by the way: Most of that water you've got is gone already. ", he added.

_What ?_

Blinking, Dare glanced at the side of the clear bottle. Sure enough, the water level was sitting at around 2/3 gone. Actually, a bit _less_ than that.

Yes. Most of that invaluable aqua was gone. So soon.

" What the- ? "

" Heh, heh. Got a bit overzealous there, V. "

_Well, so much for being careful, then. _

Exhaling, Dare conceeding the point. Buck was in a good mood- probably because he'd so easily left her in the dust-, and he wouldn't be brought down as easily as Dare had planned. As it was, she'd given him more ammo.

" Hey, at least I kept up with you as long as this. ", Dare pointed out. " Without any of those highly expensive enhancements that were poured and bolted into you, either. "

Buck nodded. " I noticed. You only lagged back 100 yards. I could practically reach back and touch you. "

There really wasn't any way to win here; not against _this. _Dare had no choice but to resign herself to the current situation, and to contemplate on why she'd _married_ this man anyway.

_It was a packaged deal. You knew what you were getting into. And its not like he doesn't have anything to balance this out._

_Really though: Such a smug jerk sometimes._

Dare shrugged. " Do I at leas get points for stubbornness ? "

" You've give that to yourself. You're _ONI_. ", Buck clearly made a point to stress the shadow organization's name.

He put a hand out toward the bottle. " Can I have a sip or two of that , by the way ? "

The blonde ONI officer regarded him with incredulity. " Hang on- you want _my_ water ? After being _that_ snippy ? And with how little is left ? Really. "

It may or may not have been a bit petty to be this way, but to be honest, Dare couldn't resist the chance to get some of her own back. After all, anyway, wasn't having fun an integral part of any successful marriage ?

_He had some fun at my expense; now, I'll have some at his._

_" Aw, _come on, Veronica. You were going on about hydrating before. That includes me. "

" And as we both know, you're a Spartan ". Dare held the bottle out of reach-no small feat considering the stature of the would-be thief. " I am sure you can last longer than I will. "

Buck wasn't so eager to give in, though. He reached for it _again_, prompting a surprised Dare to jump a little to keep the valuable water safe.

" Buck ! "

" What ? There's nothing unreasonable about me wanting a simple drink, is there ? "

" You can't- hey ! You can't simply, _take_ it ! " Dare had to keep scooting around to keep Buck from getting ahold of the bottle. It wasn't easy to accomplish that against someone at least 4 inches taller than you ( Dare, at 5ft 7, wasn't exactly a towering amazon ). It made her realize how childish this technically was. But, she refused to back down.

_Begin as you mean to go on !_

_" _You're making it worse for yourself, V ! ", Buck warned. He clearly aiming to be serious, but he couldn't completely get rid of that trademark grin. " Hand it over _willingly, _like a good girl. Come on now. "

" If you want it so bad, then _ask nicely_ ! Look, its nearly _gone_. "

She rattled the bottle around to the drive the point home. Thanks to her _slight_ over zealousness, it indeed only had enough left in it for about 4 seconds of continuous drinking.

" Mm hmm. So, now you're bargaining with me, eh ? ", asked Buck, raising a brow inquiringly." Did Admiral Osman herself teach you that ? "

_Is he for real ?_ Dare rolled her eyes. " I have _my own_ skills, you know. "

" Being generous clearly not being one of them. ", Buck countered easily."

" Too bad for you, then . " Dare carefully slotted the bottle back into its pouch.

She gestured further into the mass of jungle foliage. Wherever the summit actually was, they hadn't found it yet. Personally, Dare decided they might as well keep going till they actually _got_ there. She especially wanted to- Spartan or not, Dare wasn't going to let her husband take first place in getting up there first.

"_ Allright,_ let's get going. The sooner we back on track, the sooner- _hey !_ "

Without any warning at all, Buck closed the distance between them, and without missing a beat, smoothly proceeded to sweep Dare bodily up off the ground and up and over his right shoulder. She might as well have been a rolled up carpet.

" What the- _Buck !? _

_" Allright _yourself, woman ! ", Buck responded, with a note of smugness, turning in the direction Dare had specified a few seconds earlier.

" I'll offer _you_ a deal: Give me what's left of that bottle, and you can walk. Till then , you're taking the Buck express to the summit of, well, wherever the heck we are. "

" _Edward Buck_ ! Fair warning: Put me down ! "

Ignoring the fists that were now beginning to beat him around the shoulders, and deftly blocking the knee strike aimed at his chest, Buck kept a firm grip on his recalcitrant passenger as she set off up-slope, traversing the heavily packed plants as if they weren't there.

" Away we go. This is already turning out to be a boatload of fun. ". Buck was practically laughing now.

" Andiamo ! "

With that, he continued on his way.

" Buck ! Ok, listen- it was funny 5 seconds ago, but not anymore ! You listening to me ?! "

Her sternly worded warning didn't do anything to slow Buck, though.

And as Dare was hauled further and further up the slope, sack of grain style, she finally realized that there was no getting out of this. At least, not easily. When a Spartan got ahold of you, getting out of that jam generally required a lot of effort. Usually violence.

Their marriage was going pretty well, all things-including this-considered. Dare didn't want to get domestically violent yet.

_Great. Oh well._

_I _will_ get him back for this. That is a promise._


End file.
